'Conflict of interest' motion slows sheep nabbing case

Sunday, April 20, 2014

by JOE CALLAHAN

Progress remains slow on criminal proceedings in connection with the disappearance nearly two years ago of 31 sheep from a quarantined Northumberland County farm.

On Wednesday morning at the Ontario court of justice in Lindsay, Judge Lorne Chester adjourned a hearing regarding a conflict of interest motion and advised those in the courtroom that the earliest he could release a ruling on it is June.

The motion, filed by Crown attorney Damien Frost, seeks to remove a lawyer representing two of the four people charged, Linda (Montana) Jones, and Michael Schmidt, alleging that there is a reasonable likelihood that the co-accused defendants will mount a "cutthroat defense" and appear as witnesses against each other. If the cutthroat defense occurs, one lawyer can't represent both defendants he contends.

Jones, from Hastings in Northumberland County and Schmidt, from Durham, in Grey County, are represented by Kamloops, B.C. lawyer Shawn Buckley, whose fees are being covered by the Canadian Constitution Foundation. According to its web site, the Foundation is a registered charity, independent and non-partisan that defends the constitutional rights and freedoms of Canadians in the courts of law and public opinion.

Buckley describes the notion of a cutthroat defense as "pure conjecture” and states that Jones and Schmidt are not able to afford separate lawyers.

Jones and Schmidt, along with Robert Pinnell of West Grey township, in Grey County, and Suzanne Atkinson, Warkworth, Northumberland County, face charges of conspiracy to commit obstruction of a Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA) officer, to transport or to cause to transport an animal under quarantine, and conspiracy to defraud the public of a service over $5,000 under the Criminal Code.

Jones is also charged with obstructing a CFIA inspector under the Health of Animals Act and Pinnell faces a further charge of attempting to obstruct justice and another for obstructing a police officer, both under the Criminal Code.

Prior to the livestock’s disappearance, Jones, a Shropshire sheep breeder, was embroiled in a dispute with the CFIA over its decision to destroy her flock following a positive test for scrapie, a federally reportable disease that is fatal to sheep and goats.

The missing sheep were recovered later on a farm in western Ontario.

"It's really frustrating that this case isn't moving forward because of this application," said Buckley outside the courthouse on Wednesday.

Frost declined to comment on "matters before the court.”

Jones, however, was upbeat.

"The way (defense lawyer) Shawn performed indicates what good representation we have," she said after the proceedings.

Schmidt and Pinnell were also present at the proceedings but Atkinson, a farm journalist, failed to appear in court for a second consecutive time, and a discretionary bench warrant was issued. According to the ministry of the attorney general, “in circumstances where a person does not appear in court, the court may extend a courtesy by issuing a bench warrant ‘with discretion.’” This is the second discretionary bench warrant issued to order Atkinson to appear in court.

Atkinson is also scheduled to appear in court in Cobourg April 23, at which time a date for Chester’s ruling will also be established.BF